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The Beatles - White Album

#2
The whole album? By the time the White Album was recorded, the Beatles were not the closest of friends. Depending on whose song it was, it was probably recorded without the other Beatles in attendence. George usually did his own bass tracks, as Paul did his own lead tracks. I really don't think there was a preference to amps and they usually used whatever Mal set up on that particular day. Since the album was recorded over a period of months, it was probably a variety of combinations that was used.
 
#3
Check out Geoff Emerick's book* it's a great read on the subject, and he was partial to Paul. It's been awhile, but I remember he went mostly direct and added his bass last so he could really work out his parts.


*I lent it to a friend and I'm yet to get it back, or I would have looked it up for ya.;)
 
#7
Paul was partial to Rics and used them alot during and after the Peppers album, but again, whether he was around during the Helter Skelter session is the question. John was a very good bassist in his own right, so he might have done it himself. Geoff Emerick's book is a good one, but I doubt if even he remembers what instrument was used on what song. JimK, I agree with you, the folks who think the White Album is a real Beatles album don't really know much about the Beatles during that time period.
 
#11
When did Lennon ever play bass on a Beatles recording?
George played the Fender Bass VI sometimes at live in studio performances (for TV) when Paul played piano (Hey Jude and Let It Be) but Paul played most of the bass, no matter who's song it is.
becker4567 said:
Paul was partial to Rics and used them alot during and after the Peppers album, but again, whether he was around during the Helter Skelter session is the question. John was a very good bassist in his own right, so he might have done it himself. Geoff Emerick's book is a good one, but I doubt if even he remembers what instrument was used on what song. JimK, I agree with you, the folks who think the White Album is a real Beatles album don't really know much about the Beatles during that time period.
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#14
I'm no Beatles expert, but I did just read the Geoff Emerick book. He goes into quite a bit of detail about recording Paul's bass, and I don't recall any mention of John or George playing bass at all. On the other hand, apparently Paul played a lot of the guitar parts that George couldn't pull off!
 
#15
Bigjohn said:
When did Lennon ever play bass on a Beatles recording?
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In George Martin's book, All You Need Is Ears, he talks about Lennon's bass playing...IIRC, Lennon played on Paul's "The Long & Winding Road"...Martin said Lennon's bass playing on that tune was akin to musical sabotage. There are numerous flubs & clams, IIRC...somewhere, there's a transcript of each flub & the minute/second mark where it occurred.
 
#16
bassboysam said:
Any ideas on how the bass was recorded, what bass amp combo were used?
Sorry, typo in the subject line. "Beatles", but you knew that...
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superhand said:
Well, we got a lot of nice Beatles trivia here, but no one has answered the original question.
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Well since there were several players and setups, I answered correctly for one song.
cb56 said:
On the song "I will" the bass is actually a human voice.
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